Should belief in God be based, not on faith or love, but on the cold, calculating logic of wagers?
There have been many critiques of Pascal’s wager. Can one really “choose” one’s beliefs? Does God reward beliefs as opposed to actions? Should belief in God be based, not on faith or love, but on the cold, calculating logic of wagers? But this is not a text on philosophy or theology; rather, it is about game the- ory. So my criticism of Pascal’s wager is that the problem, as cast, involves only one decision maker. Shouldn’t we allow God to be a player? In particular, suppose we allow God to decide whether or not to reveal Her existence to Man. What will God do and what will Man do in that instance?2
God then has two strategies: reveal Herself to Man and hide Her existence. Man has the two strategies laid out by Pascal: believe in God and do not believe in God. In describing payoffs, suppose Man cares most about having his belief (or
disbelief) confirmed. If he believes in God, he wants to see evidence of God’s existence. If he doesn’t believe in God, he surely doesn’t want to see evidence of God. Secondarily, Man prefers to believe in God’s existence. As for God, She cares most about Man believing in God and secondarily prefers not revealing Herself. The strategic form of the game is re- vealed (yes, pun intended) in FIGURE 3.13.